The beginning of the digital video era is usually associated with the explosion in popularity of the DVD, but history shows us that there was an even better format, especially when it came to image quality. That format was the D-VHS, a final attempt by major manufacturers to revitalize the historic VHS, offering very high-profile content in high definition and incorporating elements from other formats, such as copy protections.
I don't have a single VHS left in my home. I figure there might be an audio cassette or two lying around, and that's it. The relationship between the general consumer and tape storage may have come to an end, but there were developments that tried to extend it even as hard drives and DVDs had begun to lower their prices. If we look back, the DVD was formally presented in 1995.
The idea of storing almost five gigabytes on a single disc was impressive, but when it came to density, the industry didn't take long to create something that, from a certain point of view, was superior. The irony is that that "something" was based on the technology the DVD planned to eradicate: the VHS. In 1998, JVC, Hitachi, Matsushita (Panasonic), and Philips joined forces to bring the D-VHS to life, promising high-definition movies with the familiarity and robustness of the old VHS.
The history of the Digital Video Home System
The mission to optimize VHS did not begin with D-VHS. In fact, some of our readers may remember S-VHS, which improved both resolution and bandwidth, placing the format on par with other technologies like LaserDisc and Hi8. However, S-VHS was still analog, while D-VHS recording was already digital, using the MPEG transport stream. D-VHS had two very important advantages: first, a single cassette could store up to 50 gigabytes of data, which in its High-Speed (HS) recording mode equaled 240 minutes of HD video at a bitrate of 28.2 megabits per second.
These parameters made home HD recording very difficult, since the only interface capable of meeting the demand was FireWire, and practically no televisions on the market had that port. The idea of restricting taping and duplication caught the attention of many distributors, and that's how, in 2002, the D-VHS crossed the pond under the name D-Theater. D-Theater tapes with 720p or 1080i resolution could only be played on certified systems and prevented duplication via FireWire thanks to the DTCP protocol. There was also the possibility of implementing "zones" as with DVDs, but the tapes and equipment available never went beyond "Zone 1," assigned to the United States.
The prices of the first D-VHS players bordered on the exorbitant, between $1,500 and $2,000 to be precise, while each movie ranged from $35 to $45. Physically, a D-VHS cassette was almost identical to a conventional VHS, but all the differences showed in its operation. Besides the huge leap in visual quality, D-VHS had a kind of rudimentary menu for selecting episodes, and over time they incorporated Dolby Digital and DTS audio tracks.
It is estimated that fewer than one hundred movies were released under D-VHS/D-Theater in the United States, with "I, Robot" starring Will Smith being the last. When comparing quality, not a few agree that the 1080i of D-VHS comes quite close to what we see on Blu-ray today, maybe a bit "brighter" than normal, but not bad for what are essentially hundreds of meters of magnetic tape stored in a cassette.
